I got a bit of a jump start on this one by seeing these guys live twice in a week, once in Denver and once in L.A. at the 2nd O.C. Crustock, and they shredded it…HARD.

The guitar riffs are rad and the execution, especially by their guitarist, here known as S.C., is damn near perfect. I payed attention to this guy playing live and he is so relaxed and…I don’t know…comfortable might be the right word, about his instrument that it is fucking clear that he has a ton of talent musically. Metallic riffage, snarling vocals and cracking snare drums, DEATHWISH sound to me a lot like DISFEAR in the Live The Storm era but dirtier and without the over-the-top metal production. That probably figures since it was mastered by Jack at Enormous Door, a guy who makes everything he touches better without overdoing it. Bitty is back behind the bass guitar and handling most of the vocals, Ryan, AKA Guinea Pig Champion, who has been with Bitty in WARTORN for years is also along for the ride, and its all held together by super-tight drumming from S.W. Certainly less crusty sounding than WARTORN or DRESDEN, with a more straightforward, kinda punk n roll, approach, these guys have written songs that sound punk as hell but have a lot of nuance to them too.

Limited to 300 copies with sick cover art from the now legendary Marald and on dark blue clear marble to boot. (Val)

OI POLLOI started back in ’81 in Scotland, have been through more band members than anyone could possibly name, except for Deek the vocalist and only mainstay of the band. They probably have close to as many releases as they have past band members.

My introduction to them was back in the mid-80’s with their appearance in the ‘Welcome to Cruise Country’ Maximum Rock N’ Roll photo issue. It was a while later before I got my hands on and owned any of my own records of theirs.

It was their catchy sing-a-long style and anarchist lyrics that drew me to them. They made it incredibly fun to sing about smashing the state and fascists alike. I’ve always loved their metallic street-crust style, the crunchy riffs and mosh pit breakdowns with Deeks gruff and heartfelt vocals were the perfect package. With fist in the air they were fun and easy to sing along with! “Bash the Fash!”

OI POLLOI were not ones to mince words and with creative, yet simple lyrics they tackled the issues of the day head on. No frills, no trying to interpret what the hell they were trying to get across, it was all right in your fucking face and if you weren’t careful you could choke on their realism. Fuck yea! Writing this is getting me stoked, hang on while I put on a record…

I opted for the ‘Fuaim Catha’ LP. Yes!

Most of their releases have cool and informative booklets and rad artwork. The cover of this LP is especially cool.

What I like and appreciate most about OI POLLOI is that although I wrote most of this in the past tense, like they weren’t around anymore, is that they as a band are still alive and kicking!

A couple of years ago they played some US cities but I was not able to see them, I clung to the hope that they would eventually be on the Chaos In Tejas bill one year and I would finally get to see them. Alas that was not to be as it was announced that Chaos in Tejas might no longer be, at least not this year. But then as fate would have it a US tour was announced for the spring of this year and Denver was on the list. Woo Hoo! What happened next really blew away and that was my band ROÄC was added to the bill. I am stoked.

I’ve picked up some killer records in the last couple of weeks but the record that I just haven’t been able to pry from my turntable is SACRILEGE ‘Its Time to Face the Reaper – The Demos 84-86’ 2XLP.

Somewhere I have a bad multi-generation copy of some of their demo stuff on CDR. The tracks from that made it on to my ipod but the quality is so poor I usually skip over them if it comes up in shuffle. With that said I was really excited to find out this album had been released, and surprised too. I was unaware that this record had been released but was informed by my good friend Val once evening while he was over listening to records.

My introduction to this band was back in the 80’s with simply a picture. The Maximum Rock N’ Roll ‘Welcome to Cruise Country’ photo special had a picture of them, well at least the singer Lynda. I thought she looked cool so I seeked out their ‘Behind the Realms of Madness’ LP (actually I think I have that one on cassette and the second release on LP). At the time I was surprised at how metal they were as I had no understanding of crust yet and my crossover knowledge didn’t go far beyond the American bands of the time.

SACRILEGE play powerful punk inspired thrash metal that could also be considered crust. Lynda’s reverb heavy vocals are the bands trademark. They are distinctly female and powerful, yet clear and decipherable as they cut through the din being kicked up my her punk-metal head band mates such as the scythe of the Reaper cuts through the neck flesh of the damned.

This double LP captures all of the bands demos from 83, 84 and both demos from 86. Demo LPs can be sketchy sometimes and although the quality varies on this release it sounds fucking great! As I type this I am listening to the ‘Within the Prophecy’ LP and it sounds kind of light and tinny compared to the raw heavy of the demos LP.

The cover folds out into a killer poster while the flip side has some lyrics, flyers and pictures of the band.

All in, this is a quality release and we can thank Felix over at Havoc for putting it out. Here is a direct link to the record :

This is my first pick of “album of the week”. It’s been playing a lot in recent days as the lead vocalist recently died. I knew him and I know the band, I grew up one town away from these dudes and they had a huge impact on my life.

End of Story (or EOS as I’ll refer to them as from here) raged from Glenwood Springs Colorado and had gone through a couple of changes on vocals and drums before the classic lineup was established in the mid to late 80’s. EOS became Colorado Hardcore champions by this time and were steadies in the Denver scene some 150 miles away where they opened for the likes of Dag Nasty, the UK Subs, Warzone, Government Issue, the Vandals and more.

EOS had a unique blend of hardcore punk and metal that borrowed as much from Dag Nasty as they did DRI. Their unique blend of melodic hardcore was captured on what became known as “the Airplane tape” named for the silhouette of a Word war II German plane on a stark white background. Oddly enough this hardcore masterpiece was recorded at a fish hatchery in Carbondale Colorado. A dude named John Rigger was the engineer and also the local fish hatchery manager. Amid the fish eggs and milt John was able capture the band on tape. It has a classic 80’s sound that is way better than most of the demos that surfaced at the time. The reverb on the vocals always stuck with me and was an influence on how I would record my own vocals 15-20 years later. The songs reflect the attitude of the 80’s with themes of nuclear war, apartheid and other relative topics of the day. One of their most popular songs ‘Telling Me How to Die’ was based the novel ‘Johnny Got His Gun’ long before Metallica penned ‘One’. The attitude of the band was fueled by skateboards, beers, tasty buds and righteous jams. Metal heads and punk rockers were all welcomed to the party, in fact anyone that wanted to party was invited to the party!

The band stayed active through various breaks and line-up changes well into the 20-teens. The most recent line-up saw 4/5’s of the classic reunited as all but Dan Schneider were back in the band.

The ‘Aireplane Tape’ is impossible to find. I converted it to CD a few years ago and can burn you a copy if you want, just email me. (Josh Mosh) clusterfuxjosh@msn.com

This came off the internet somewhere and Attucks posted to his FB wall. I had been on a similar rant on the ROÄC FB page… www.facebook.com/ROAC

CoorSS has, for some reason, become popular in the DIY punk and metal scene. Fuck these scum bags! Dont buy their evil swill. And it tastes like shit!!!! read on…

DON’T BUY COORS

Here’s why:
1. COORS SUPPORTS TERRORISM IN NICARAGUA

Each sale of Coors beer helps the contra terrorists in Nicaragua, who have been ambushing and killing civilians, murdering teachers and medical workers, and destroying rural schools and medical centers. The contras, a band of mercenaries established by the CIA, are attempting to overthrow the elected government of Nicaragua. Joseph Coors has contributed to and helped to raise millions of dollars for the contras. (Washington Post, May 3, 1985). The Heritage Foundation, funded and established by Coors, provided a report in 1984 to the Reagan Administration on how to destabilize Nicaragua.

2. COORS IS ANTI-LABOR

Coors has a long history of violating federal labor laws and union-busting – breaking 19 unions in the last 20 years. Coors has blocked the efforts of federal safety inspectors to investigate workplace hazards, which have led to the death of Coors employees (San Francisco Examiner, July 5, 1984).

3. COORS IS RACIST, ANTI-WOMEN’S RIGHTS, AND ANTI-GAY

William E. Coors fought against passage of the U.S. Civil Rights Act, and in 1984 told an audience of black businessmen that blacks don’t succeed because they “lack intellectual capacity”. (Rocky Mountain News, February 24, 1984). The Coors Company, cited for unlawful employment discrimination in 1970, settled out of court IN 1977 and paid thousands of dollars in back pay and rehired minority and female workers. Joseph Coors supported the campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment and is a major contributor to the Moral Majority, which has called for the imprisonment of gay persons diagnosed as having AIDS.

4. COORS SUPPORTS NAZI SYMPATHIZERS

When Joseph Coors established the Heritage Foundation in 1974, he chose Roger Pearson, an outspoken anti-semite and pro-nazi, as co- editor of the Heritage Foundation publication Policy Review. Pearson is the author of a book on Aryan supremacy called “Race and Civilization”, and has been the editor or co-editor of several racist and neo-nazi magazines. (National Guardian, May 1, 1985). The Heritage Foundation is a right-wing think tank which seeks to abolish civil rights laws, minimum wage laws, affirmative action, rights for the handicapped, and arms control.

5. COORS POLLUTES

In contrast to the advertised association of Coors beer with “pure mountain spring water”, Coors is one of the largest dumpers of hazardous waste in Colorado. (National Catholic Reporter, March 25,1983).

THE NATIONWIDE COORS BOYCOTT has been extremely effective. Begun in 1977 by brewery workers at the Coors plant in Colorado, the boycott has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO, the NEA (National Education Association) and NOW (National Organization for Women). As a result, Coors has steadily lost sales every year since 1977. Coors is now looking for sales in eastern markets (such as Boston) but here too the boycott has affected sales. At the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and at Brandeis University, for example, sales of Coors beer were recently halted.

(This leaflet is published by the Pledge of Resistance, whose objective is to stop U.S. intervention in Central America – both by the U.S. government and by private sources, such as Coors.)

This item is from a Student Environmental Action Coalition chapter in Colorado.
Coors vs. the Earth
“Waste the High Country”
-Coors was cited twice in 1990 for water pollution, once in 1986 and once in 1985 (Pat Nelson, Co. Dept of Health)

-In 1981, Coors first identified the groundwater pollution, but did not notify the Co. Dept. of Health or EPA (Rocky Mountain News, 8/31/90

-Current State’s Attorney criminal investigation of Coors for suspicion that plant officials knowingly concealed leaking pipes at the company’s can plant that tainted at least 2 and as many as 5 underground springs with toxic chemical solvents contributing to irregular heartbeat, unconsciousness, pulmonary edema, and death (Rocky Mountain News (R.M.N.), 8/31/90)

-Contaminated water destined for Clear Creek was later rerouted into Coors infective General Waste Treatment Plant which does not remove certain types of Cancer causing chemicals (ibid)

-The water pollutants from the Coors plant are contributing to higher-than- usual incidence of low birthweights and early childhood cancer in areas which receive water from Clear Creek. (National Toxics Campaign, 9/27/90)

-Coors has been singled out as a large contributor to Denver’s brown cloud. (EPA 1989)

-1966, Joe Coors was installed as a regent of the University of Colorado. He became known for his advocacy of repressing campus dissent. Coors also sought to abolish Chicano and Black studies programs at the University, and to curtail the admissions of low-income students, because he believed such students would lower academic standards.

-The Heritage Foundation is often characterized as a “conservative think tank”, with origins in New Right activism… The “founder” beer magnate Joe Coors, donated the first-year Heritage budget of $250,000 from the coffers of the Coors Corporation.

-1974, Heritage injected itself into a textbook censorship case in Kanawha County, West Virginia… The protest was publicly framed as a parent’s rights case, but in fact was focused substantially on African-American authors or texts that dealt with the conditions and culture of African- Americans. The Ku Klux Klan was involved in the protest from the start.

-1984, In a speech to a minority business group in Denver, William Coors told the group that if they thought it was “unfair” that their “ancestors were dragged here in chains against their will… I would urge those of you who feel that way to go back to where your ancestors come from, and you will find out that probably the greatest favor that anybody ever did you, was to drag your ancestors over here in chains, and I mean it.”

-Later in the same speech Coors said, “… they (Blacks) lack the intellectual capacity to succeed.”

-It is true that the Coors family, foundation and corporation, through grants and advertising have expanded their funding in recent years to include groups who historically have not been allies, such as feminist, lesbian and gay, African-American, and Chicano organizations. This shift, however, reflects the families pragmatic business sense rather than any change in overall political orientation. Significant funding continues to flow toward rightest groups. The Coors Corporation’s public image has been substantially improved through a relatively small investment of time and money.

Bill Coors
-Reputation as a racist due to his comments regarding ethnic groups.
-Paid employees to attend a mandatory meeting where he “urged employees of the Adolph Coors Company to write their congressman opposing the Civil Rights Act.
-Delivered the “slave trader speech of 1984 in which he told minority businessmen in Denver that one of the best things slave-drivers did to American blacks “is to drag your ancestors over here in chains” because blacks in America have greater opportunity than those in Africa.
-Admits the Coors Company move to recycling was prompted by economics.
-Gave money (with brother Joe) to the anti-union National Right to Work Committee
Joe Coors
-Past U. of Colorado Regent
-Requested that Students for a Democratic Society be banned from the CU campus (request denied)
-Criticized while on the Board of Regents for passing John Birch Society literature to other regents.
-Labelled “one of the country’s leading anti-environmentalists” by the conservative Reader’s Digest, 1983)
-Well-known for his desire to minimize government interference in his Corporate interests.
-Belongs (with brother Bill) to the Bohemian Grove, an elite club to which Ronald Reagan and other “ruling class” members belong
-Testified that he had given $65,000 to Oliver North which was used to buy a plane for the Contras.
-Helped found the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress, effectively training over 7000 workers for the Moral Majority, Phyllis Schlafly’s STOP-ERA, the Eagle Forum, right-to-life campaigns and anti-union groups.
The Investments and Involvements

-Fall of 1975, faced a complaint of race and sex discrimination by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

-Twice found guilty of discrimination against black employees by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission

-Coors Foundation has donated money to the following anti-Earth organizations:

Pacific Legal Foundation/ Limited Government Project Coalition
(works to fight bureaucratic intrusion particularly regarding environmental regulations)
Mountain States Legal Foundation
(fights against the EPA, Sierra Club, EDF, Dept. of the Interior on environmental legislation, emission standards, dumping limits, etc. Joe Coors has served on the MSLF’s board of directors)
Effectively supported the campaigns of James Watt (Sec. of the Interior) Ann Gorsuch (Dir. of the EPA) and Robert Burford (Dir. of the Bureau of Land Management). Thought of as the biggest destroyers of the environment and the movement organized to protect it.
Funded the John Birch Society
Funded the King Ministry
(dedicated to “saving homosexuals from their ‘sinful lifestyles'”)
Funded the Concerned Citizens
(a California group pressing for reinstatement of criminal penalties for homosexuals)
The Impacts
-Opened a ceramics plant in Brazil to take advantage of the rapid growth of the Brazilian paper and pulp industry. This endeavor relies on the exploitation of tropical rain forests.
-Operates Coors Energy while drills for natural gas in Easter and Western Colorado to be used by the Coors company alone.
-Bulldozed into a BLM Wilderness Study Area outside of Grand Junction for oil and gas exploration by the Coors subsidiary (Sept. 1982)
-Has effectively fought against Gov. Roy Romer’s suggestion that the enormous coal-burning operation help “do everything we can to clean up coal.”
-Dumped an estimated 20 million gallons of toxic liquid waste into nearby Lowry Landfill while refusing to disclose the barrel’s contents.
-Holds “apparent favoritism” within the Occupational Safety and Health Administration according to Sen. Edward Kennedy (April, 1984). News reports stated that this “may have contributed” to the deaths of two brewery workers in 1982.
-Coors is not at the forefront of the recycling battle, as their propaganda would suggest. Rather, Coors lobbied heavily against mandatory deposit legislation and effectively defeated a Colorado state “bottle bill” which would have ensured more recycling of glass and would have prompted the recycling of aluminum and other valuable resources.

The Solution

In their effort to get wide-spread media attention by supporting national events and placing their name on large buildings on public university property, we must say NO TO COORS! Our university is not the place for a private self-interest such as Coors to seek publicity and to further their insane social and political practices. Dave Sickler, the coordinator of the 10 year AFL-CIO Coors boycott, said “If you can get two cockroaches to race, Coors will show up with t-shirts and sponsor it.”

=o= A word about that “10 year AFL-CIO Coors boycott:” At that writing the Coors boycott was about 10 years old, but the AFL-CIO had not been in on it for 10 years. What happened is that the boycott was started by a coalition of human rights and environmental groups and the AFL-CIO joined the coalition.
=o= Unfortunately the AFL-CIO sold out the coalition as soon as they got what they wanted. You may have heard press reports that the Coors boycott had ended — these reports were issued unilaterally by the AFL-CIO. Groups working for human rights and for the environment continue the boycott, and some labor groups continue the boycott as well.

=o= This final piece is the most recent thing I’ve seen written about Coors.

While the past involvement of the Coors family in conservative causes is well-established, most people are unaware that the family’s rightist goals are still in place and that their political influence remains strong. Although the survival and growth of the corporation has required some financial concessions and a shift in public image, the Coors family empire still represents a threat to peace, social justice, pluralism and democracy. Coors family funding continues to flow toward rightist groups, and the family’s political involvement plays a crucial role in the establishment and maintenance of key organizations defining the political dialogue for both the New Right and the Religious Right. Ironically, the family derives the bulk of its wealth from working-class and middle-class people who purchase Coors beer products. The Coors family, through its political operations, then uses its share of the profits from beer sales to perpetuate and encourage regressive governmental and social policies serving only the narrow interests of a handful of the very wealthy in this country. That they are able to cloud this reality is due to the Coors Corporation’s high-visibility advertising campaign.

“The pattern of Coors family funding and activism stands in stark contrast to the mainstream image projected by the Coors Brewing Company, whose advertising and funding reach out to the African-American, women’s and gay communities,” charges Dr. Jean Hardisty of Political Research Associates in Cambridge, Mass. “In fact, Coors family funding underwrites a broad and effective attack on the democratic rights of people of color, gay men and lesbians, and women.”

Pillars of New Right

The Coors family is highly influential in shaping the activities of three organizational pillars of the New Right — the Heritage Foundation, the Free Congress Foundation (FCF) and the Council for National Policy (CNP) — which comprise an influential force in Washington, DC. Involvement with these key groups provides the Coors family with a conservative political base. From this base, the family is connected to prominent activists in other New Right organizations, to groups on the Religious Right, and to allies in governmental agencies and in Congress. For example, FCF is the major New Right political power base for White House Chief of Staff John Sununu, who engineered the David Souter Supreme Court nomination. In reality, the Coors family is a powerful, wealthy, highly organized force for social change. The change they support with their time and money is a return to Social Darwinian political and economic morality framed by the unrestricted demands of market and capital. They see racism ending with the Civil War and leaving no enduring legacy in the 20th century. In international affairs, they expect Third World countries to embrace U.S. capital investment without restrictions. They give money to groups that support the apartheid government in South Africa, the violent RENAMO army in Mozambique and the Pretoria-supported UNITA forces in Angola.

The Coors family also funds a right-wing sector of Christian fundamentalism, which seeks to replace democratic pluralism with so-called “traditional family values” — that is, an authoritarian, gender-based social order. They support groups that say homosexuals are an abomination and AIDS is God’s judgement on sinners. They have supported Reverend Sun Myung Moon and Christian Reconstructionists, both of whom have called for the abolition of U.S. democracy and the establishment of a theocratic state.

What is surprising is the extent of Coors family involvement with groups that belong properly to neither the New Right nor the Religious Right, but to the fringes of the ultraright. Even more disheartening is the extent to which mainstream political organizations evince a willingness to work with these denizens of the fringe. The Coors far-right links include the following:

Jeffrey H. Coors sits on the FCF board of directors along with the FCF director Paul Weyrich, an ardent supporter of the neo-fascist Society for the Protection of Tradition, Family and Property; and Charles Moser, an editorial adviser to a publication that praises the Nazi Waffen SS.
Weyrich, who for years has represented the political interests of the Coors family in Washington, DC, sponsors the work of a convicted Nazi collaborator, Laszlo Pasztor, a Hungarian-american who is employed at FCF.
The Coors-funded Heritage Foundation co-sponsored a 1989 forum with a pro-Nazi group, the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations.
Jeff, Holly and Peter Coors were members of the CNP Board of governors in 1988 — along with a former Indiana Ku Klux Klan leader, supporters of the apartheid government of South Africa and ultraright Christian Reconstructionists who call for the execution of homosexuals, adulterers and blasphemers.
Power Brokers

There are other powerful New Right funders, but it is the Coors family who time and again appear in leadership roles in New Right institutions, offering a guiding hand along with their signed checks. The family is seen, by critics and compatriots alike, as being in the front rank of conservative U.S. power brokers.

Some observers contend that the Coors empire has moderated politically because the Coors Corporation now financially supports some women’s, civil rights and gay and lesbian groups. These donations and advertising dollars, however, merely represent a pragmatic, investment- oriented response to the consumer boycott of Coors products — not a rejection of the bedrock rightist and anti-democratic beliefs held by the Coors family.

With the thawing of the Cold War, the views of the New Right’s major funders will to a large degree shape the nature of conservative activism in the coming decades. To study the past action and ideas of the Coors family provides an imperfect yet useful glimpse into the future of the U.S. political right.

I’m a little late on this one. The anniversary of Cliff Burton’s death was yesterday.

I can remember that morning of school clearly. Where I lived we didn’t have cable, so I didn’t have MTV, so I had no idea. Once I got to school I immediately noticed that everyone was kind of glume, heads down with their mangy hair giving them the Cousin It look.

It was this dude Steve Barham that filled me in on the current events. He was a bit of a character, he always spoke in code sort of using initials for common words. For instance his transfer of information probably went something like this:

I got to see PENTAGRAM the other night. My history with them doesn’t go very deep but my love and adoration does. I can recall knowing of them for probably ever, going back to the 80’s even. But I always just shrugged them off as some 3rd rate heavy metal band and never gave them a chance. Even when they started playing shows again several years ago I couldn’t have given a flying fuck. They came to Denver and I didn’t give a toss. I’m humble, I’ll admit that my first real introduction to them was the movie…”Last Days Here”. I was blown away.

The movie was constantly on for a week straight. The tale of Bobby and company had possessed my soul. I don’t know how but it was happening to me, I sold my soul to the Pentagram. Almost immediately I felt the connection, it was as if I had been listening to this band my whole life. Their compositions were already a part of me and they just had to be unlocked. I felt very fortunate to be able to find that sacred key, once opened their magic poured through my veins freely and attached itself to my DNA nestling in next to the bands that have been a part of me for 35+ years. They felt so natural and I knew this was a special union.

Seeing them live in any capacity seemed farfetched. I thought maybe they would be at Chaos in Tejas this year since they were playing Maryland Death Fest but that was not the case. Then I heard they were playing at Farmageddon, that banjo-punk fest in Montana. I really had no penchant for attending that. Damn… But then the clouds parted and I discovered almost by accident that they were playing some snowboarding block party in downtown Denver. Fuck yes! I was there.

The event itself was weird. The mix of snowboarders, rockers, metal heads, crusties and punx was bizarre. It was easy to see the difference between snow jocks and the music fans. The black clothing was a sure give away but there was also a noted difference in the two crowds handled themselves. The shredders were obnoxious and distracting from the some of the awesome music that was there. For me this really reached its peak during the last 2 or 3 songs Pentagram played. Two young girls worked their way into the little spot between me and the fellow rocker that was in front of me. The pair were giggling, pointing and generally mocking those around them while giving me dirty looks. When Bobby and the guys started into ‘Be Forewarned’ they were flat out laughing. Im sure it had to be a little weird seeing this dude that was as old as their grandpa play some old, heavy, rock while grabbing his balls. To a twenty-something bimbo this could be pretty strange. I get it. But get the fuck out of my way! Mock it from the sidelines or just plain fuck off. Either works for me, just get out of my way! Shit. It was only then that the jock pit got too big and too much to deal with I finally stepped back several feet to the let the snowheads football block each other like they were at a Pantera show. Jackasses…

But lets not let that distract us from what transpired that evening. I will admit that first song seemed a little shaky, it wasn’t that tight. I was worried, but thought maybe it had something to do with the fact that they weren’t using their own backline or drum kit, that the stage was kind of funky. My mind started to run and I am thankful I was able to catch it before I let myself be too distracted from the enchantment that was taking place. As soon as they went into the second song and the first couple of chords of ‘Forever My Queen’ rang out all was well in the kingdom and the people rejoiced and showed their love for the king by headbaning, pounding their fists to the beat and saluting with heavy metal sign language. Fuck yeah! The tone was set and they did not falter from that point on. Even though the cast of characters seems to change every few months this lineup owned it and delivered an amazingly solid set that that was comprised of primarily the tracks from ‘First Daze Here’ and ‘Relentless’. They were simply amazing.

Bobby was a fuckin’ freak! But he was supposed to and I am sure a large percentage of his stage banter and gyrations were just part of the character. The dude looked like some sort of satanic twist of genetic malfunction that spliced the DNA of Dio, Steven Tyler and Gollum into a mutated Heavy Metal hero. He was so fucking perverted and weird that he simply ruled! He was creepy as fuck but HE RULED!

Not everyone thinks of Pentagram as highly. Many still consider them a 3rd rate Heavy Metal throwback. They don’t get it, they weren’t able to connect. I don’t judge them, but I do have empathy for them. They are missing out on something that without I would not be whole.

When I first heard about the upcoming pairing of the ADOLESCENTS and PENTAGRAM at a Colorado snowboard festival, I was pretty wary.

And here were two bands that couldn’t seem to be more diametrically opposed. PENTAGRAM representing the drug-addled heavy rock of the 1970’s and the ADOLESCENTS being somehow the response to that. The punk kids rejecting the slow and heavy with speed and intensity. However it very probable that the kids of the black hole never even heard PENTAGRAM back then. But that is probably some other discussion….

Now all you who know me know I am not a hater. Especially when it comes to bands reforming and doing their thing. I think its a very personal thing, being in a band, and if someone wants to pick up the torch of their youth and carry it in their 30’s, 40’s, 50’s that is their choice, and if they get some personal satisfaction from it then great. I know that I still want to be involved in our punk scene and i’m over 40. I have grown tired of 20 year old punks telling me and others that we don’t belong and our perspectives are somehow invalid due to our age. I’ve been here too long to let it all go. Punk is in my blood and that’s it. That being said, it often, as we all know, can be a pale comparison to former glory. I have seen it play out both ways. I have watched as Jerry from POISON IDEA ruined the band forever for me, but I have also seen DEVIATED INSTINCT return and be better than ever. So when old bands come around I always am a little fearful that they will somehow fall flat. Sometimes its just a bad rip-off, a sort-of going thru the motions with absolutely no spark, and sometimes its clear that they want to do better than they can. Other times it can be brilliant…

As I stood and watched PENTAGRAM with Tony Adolescent standing next to me it seemed a bit of farce. I have been a long time ADOLESCENTS fan, but was introduced to PENTAGRAM in the past 10 years or so. PENTAGRAM did some amazing stuff back in the early 70‘s and they sounded good but Bobby was so whacked-out and creepy that it was kinda hard to watch. Tony had never seen them and didn’t really seem to know much about them. I almost asked him to verify my theory of their polarity as bands, but thought it would be pretentious so we talked of other things. When talking to the old guard I try to avoid the whole “tell me what it was like” discussions. I am a more present kind of a person and find that looking backwards too much causes undue stumbling. Some people let you know quickly that they prefer to discuss the fun and chaos of their past, but I knew that Tony was different having just read the outstanding “We Got Power” book where he clearly states that he is much the same. “…a creature of the present.” We talked instead of parenting our kids and his segments in the recent documentary “The Other F-Word” about punk parents. We did, however, end up discussing Greg Ginn and the whole BLACK FLAG vs FLAG thing, the only time where nostalgia crept into the conversation. We ended up discussing the great community that is Fort Collins, Colorado, of all things, a town that he had clearly been to a number of times and really liked. Finally he got the call to head to the stage that they would soon occupy and he took off. I wish I would have had time to ask about the other current members of the band. Tony was a super-nice guy, and another example of a life-long punk that is a better person for having been a part of it all. But now I was really worried. What if the ADOLESCENTS didn’t perform now? Now, after our long conversation, it would seem all the more tragic if there was no spark onstage.

I ended up wandering away from PENTAGRAM before they were finished just so that I wouldn’t miss any of the ADOLESCENTS set. I hadn’t taken the time to see who was still playing in the band and was glad to see Steve Soto on bass still. Steve had been in AGENT ORANGE before forming the ADOLESCENTS in late ’79 and is a great bassist. Alas, my fears evaporated and I greedily ate up their great set. Tony still seemed the pissed off OC punk but all the wiser for the past 30+ years. They hammered thru classics such as L.A. Girl, Who is Who, Amoeba, and of course, Kids of the Black Hole, among others. A seemingly short set but maybe I just wanted more – a clear sign that they were still fully functional and powerful.

I only wish I would have had some more time to talk to him and had asked him to “do the Eddie” onstage. (Val)

If you spend your time flipping through old stacks of moldy vinyl in shithole record stores just hoping you will find that lost Sir Lord Baltimore or Uriah Heep wax you have been missing, then this is for you. I made the point when I reviewed their last full length to say that is that this is not Stoner Rock, not even close. What this is, is five musicians born 40 years too late playing their hearts out, pushing each other and pushing their own envelopes. You can tell by the texture of the songs on their second release that “Space” has really started to come into their own. The heavy Deep Purple and Blue Oyster Cult influences are still prevalent but Space In Time has definitely made a stance with their own unique groove. This is their second full length release and from what I understand they have another one in the oven, due out next year I hope. That is a sign of a band feeling their moment, a band that enjoys jamming regardless of what is happening around them. Which is highlighted in the title track Rock and Roll, you can’t help but sing along to it. Mike experiments with different vocal melodies, cool backing harmonies and with some studio trickery on this release. Reading through the lyrics and listening to the band you quickly see that every song has been crafted with care and without the thought of any of the songs being considered filler. The album kicks off with a ripping Yancy drum roll and it’s all over from there, Javram’s wicked leads and killer riffs added to Charlie’s bass lines and Vaughn’s organ licks make for a very memorable piece of wax. Oh, and the U.F.O. cover is on the money, Javram is all over creepy Michael Schenker’s licks (Michael is creepy not his licks) and executes them with justice. I am really glad that Space decided to release this on vinyl, you can get the C.D. too but I like having the record. When you see these guys live you begin to understand what makes this group so special. They make you feel like you are seeing something important, no matter the crowd; Space In Time turns them into fans. Proving that you don’t need to tune down and sing like a Cookie Monster to shred faces off, all you need is some real Rock And Roll. As the lyric says Space In Time is the name and Rock and Roll is the game! (Attucks)

Maximum Rock N Roll and other “zines” have been bagging crust for a while but it seems like that criticism has picked up even more in recent months. Some of the reviews in MRR you have to question whether they even listened to the record and its very apparent that they don’t give records to reviewers based on their general musical interests. You can have some LagWagon lovin’ doughhead making recommendations on say a band like WARMASTER. It just doesn’t work. Some criticism is fine, constructive criticism is usually welcomed. Any genre or sub-genre can certainly get washed out over time. You will always have leaders and you will always have followers. There will always be bands that push the envelope and keep things interesting. UNKIND is one of those bands. If anyone says that crust and d-beat have gotten stale they certainly haven’t heard UNKIND yet. This platter is an amazing melting pot of crust, d-beat and metal. It’s spiced with dual vocals, ripping guitar solos and atmosphere. They tastefully employ acoustic guitars, an accordion and even a banjo. And it all makes sense. Although the lyrics are in their native Finnish tongue we know what they are yelling about. I am sure all the punk rock topics that are apparent to anyone that doesn’t have their head up their ass or tuned in to Fox news is aware of: Religion, corrupt politicians, corporate greed, war, isms, etc. This album and the creativity behind it is what keep crust and d-beat alive, relevant and moving forward. MRR may not know what time it is but the metal labels sure do as labels like Relapse and Southern Lord continue to sign crust, d-beat and hardcore punk bands. Great stuff! (JoshMosh)